A clean slate for the new year

This article is scheduled to appear on January 3, so my “Happy New Year!” wishes are a couple days late, but they come from the heart, nonetheless. It’s transition time. As the adage goes, “out with the old, in with the new!” The 2019 calendar is cluttered with last year’s appointments and notes about various activities. As I quickly flip through those pages, I’m reminded of the many wonderful things that occurred over the past 12 months. For example, some new pastors arrived in our community and are plugging in and blessing all of us with their wisdom and energy.

On the other hand, I’m relieved to close the book for 2019. It was a challenging year for our community in that many of our friends and family have been grieving the loss of a loved one. Others have been dealing with serious medical issues or similar trials. We weep with those who weep, as it says in Romans 12:15.

The 2020 calendar is blank — a clean slate, a fresh start, empty boxes waiting to contain exciting appointments and reminders of upcoming happy occasions. As those events unfold, we expect to rejoice with those who rejoice, another thought from Romans 12:15.

Gradually the empty boxes (whether on paper, on our phones or wherever) will fill up, reflecting our choices on how we plan to spend our time, a most precious “commodity.” Some of those boxes may contain “the same old same old” activities we have repeated for years, such as getting our teeth cleaned. Not fun but important. Other repetitive entries may call for closer examination — is this particular appointment still contributing to my growth or to the long-term goals for my life, or should I leave it behind?

Whatever the situation with old or new appointments, the Lord is interested in doing a new thing in our lives. Many Bible verses are very clear about that. For example, in Isaiah 43:19, we find this promise: “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” The promise of a new thing is for all of us but is especially encouraging to those who have spent time in the desert this past year. The Hebrew term for new in this verse (and many others) refers to something never seen or done before. How exciting!

Similarly, we find the same concept in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that anyone who is in Christ is a “new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” The Greek word for new in this verse means not known before, better, or not impaired by time.

An important part of walking in that newness is thinking in a new way. I can be “renewed in the spirit of (my) mind;” (Ephesians 4:23). I can learn to see things with a new and heavenly perspective and thus manifest the new life Jesus purchased for me on the cross.

Furthermore, I can grow in my understanding of what it means to be “raised up” and sitting “in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:5-7)

I don’t claim to know exactly what those verses mean, but I do know the Bible describes heaven as a place of beauty, joy, perfection, blessings and unlimited possibilities that we can barely imagine now. Nevertheless, we see glimpses of it every time we pray for someone and they are healed or touched by Jesus in some way.

What’s in store for us in 2020? We don’t know what the future holds, but God does. He is the only one who “declares the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done.” (Isaiah 46:10). Or as the old saying goes, “We don’t know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future.” And we know He is good and loving and wants to bless us.

January 1st is a special day, the start of a new year. And yet it is not so special after all, as every day with Jesus is a brand-new beginning, a clean slate. As the prophet Jeremiah said, His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:20-24).

So, my prayers for all of us in 2020 include the following: May we have many wonderful experiences that are new and fresh, never seen or done before. May we grow in our relationship with the One Who holds the future — and us — in His hands. May our wilderness areas become well-watered gardens bearing much fruit. May we be very aware as we start each day that the Lord’s mercies are indeed new every morning. And may we experience a bit of –actually lots of — heaven on earth. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, Lord, among us in 2020 on earth as it is in heaven!

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Vicki Barrows

Abundant Life Ministries